Early Death Racial Disparity - Ages 65-74 in District of Columbia

District of Columbia

Based on 2024 calculations, the average 65-year-old in the United States can expect to live another 19.7 years. However, many older adults do not live to see their 75th birthday. The leading causes of death among adults ages 65-74 in the U.S. in 2024 were cancer, heart disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, cerebrovascular disease and diabetes, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Research estimates that 48% of all premature deaths involve behavioral and other preventable causes. Social factors such as low educational attainment and low income also contribute to mortality risk. Social isolation, which affects about a quarter of older adults, also increases the risk of premature death.

According to America’s Health Rankings analysis, Black older adults have the highest early death rate, followed by Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native older adults. Asian and multiracial older adults have the lowest rates. The early death rate among Black older adults is three times higher than that of Asian older adults. 

Interventions that improve the quality and accessibility of social factors such as housing, income, employment and education can potentially improve health. The CDC supports programs that target aspects of the social determinants of health, address barriers to accessing care and focus on populations facing health disparities. Examples of these programs include:

• The CDC’s Healthy Tribes Program, which seeks to improve the health of American Indian/Alaska Native communities. 
• The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, which provides community navigators and partners with local agencies for outreach to support access to free and low-cost breast and cervical cancer screenings as well as other diagnostic and treatment services for low-income and uninsured people. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has also released a framework to promote healthy communities for those covered by CMS programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Health Insurance Marketplace. 

Promoting healthy choices is not enough to eliminate health disparities. They suggest that public health organizations collaborate with partners in other sectors like education, transportation and housing to improve people's social, economic and physical conditions.

Healthy People 2030 has multiple national overarching goals related to preventing premature death and eliminating health disparities, including:

• Attaining healthy, thriving lives and well-being free of preventable disease, disability, injury and premature death.
• Eliminating health disparities, achieving health equity and attaining health literacy to improve the health and well-being of all.
• Creating social, physical and economic environments that promote attaining the full potential for health and well-being for all.

Bergeron-Boucher, Marie-Pier, Julia Callaway, Cosmo Strozza, and Jim Oeppen. “Inequalities in Lifespan and Mortality Risk in the US, 2015–2019: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Subpopulations by Social Determinants of Health.” BMJ Open 14, no. 6 (May 2024): e079534. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-079534.

Mather, Mark, and Paola Scommegna. “Up to Half of U.S. Premature Deaths Are Preventable; Behavioral Factors Key.” Population Reference Bureau, September 14, 2015. https://www.prb.org/resources/up-to-half-of-u-s-premature-deaths-are-preventable-behavioral-factors-key/.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2020. https://doi.org/10.17226/25663.

Novotney, Amy. “The Risks of Social Isolation.” Monitor on Psychology 50, no. 5 (May 2019): 32. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation.

Williams, David R., and Selina A. Mohammed. “Racism and Health II: A Needed Research Agenda for Effective Interventions.” The American Behavioral Scientist 57, no. 8 (August 1, 2013). https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764213487341.

Xu, Jiaquan, Sherry Murphy, Kenneth D. Kochanek, and Elizabeth Arias. Mortality in the United States, 2024. NCHS Data Brief No. 548. National Center for Health Statistics, January 29, 2026. https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc/174641.